Mark Gonzalez and Morientes

[Guest mark5times]

We signed both these players after a lot of grief and although Morientes' failure can be attributed to his lack of pace and age and Rafa was probably right in sending him packing I just cant help but feel he was harsh with Gonzalez.. The guy was great against Arsenal and has age at his side.. Theres also the added factor of him recovering from a long term injury and being unlucky here as well with them.. Id have started with him rather than that useless dutcman but alas im not rafa and thank god for that.. If Rafa had bought Pires at Arsenal he would have sent him packing as well which is what I feel is the case with gonzalez

[Guz]

I have to say that apart from that Arsenal performance he has looked like a rabbit caught in headlights in virtually every game. He's usually one of our more positive players as in he keeps looking for the ball and trying to do things with it but his lack of quality at times is stunning for someone who grabbed so many plaudits in Spain. Mancs away was a perfect example, he got the ball sometimes, tried to run with it but didn't seem to know what else to do. He just froze

 

I personally would've liked to see what he could've done with a second season but can only assume we'll be getting someone better than Gonzalez. And who knows, maybe there were other issues in terms of settling down that we don't know about.

[Maldini]

He's not gone yet. I know what you're saying though, I've said for a while that Gonzalez just needs to believe in himself more, but do we have the time to wait for him to cop on? Probably not.

 

With Kewell back and Leto coming in you can't really justify having him in the team if he's not playing well.

[magneto]

Leto is more of a Patrik Berger type left midfielder as opposed to an out and out winger.l

[libero]

Leto is more of a Patrik Berger type left midfielder as opposed to an out and out winger.l

Oh feck Tetti/Hels will have wet drawers after that sort of statement

[Guest Prongsy]

It really just depends who we bring in for the wings. If we are looking at players that can play both sides such as mancini and simao, then there is no reason to let Gonzalez rot.

 

Even if we bring in Silva for the left, he would still have to get ahead of both Silva and Kewell. Not happening.

[Mikey]

Pires's poor first season is an internet myth ranking alongside Henry's. He took a couple of months to settle but generally played well in the 2nd half of his first season over here as did TH, although posters keep trotting out this cr@p to try and support bogus "lets keep X,Y,Z because RP and TH were s**** in their 1st season as well" rubbish. There are many more players who were poor in their first season and also poor in their second, than players who improved remarkably.

 

You have listed Gonzalez's only good game as a reason to keep him, he actually played quite well against PSV at home in the group game until he went off injured after 30 minutes as well, an extremely poor return over a season, and why would his fitness improve next season?

 

Moro couldn't do it over here, nor could Forlan and Kanoute was no great shakes either, and they are banging them in for fun in Spain. Either they couldn't cope with the pressure over here or the Spanish league is easier to score in.

 

I still want Torres though.

[Raj]

Moro couldn't do it over here, nor could Forlan and Kanoute was no great shakes either, and they are banging them in for fun in Spain. Either they couldn't cope with the pressure over here or the Spanish league is easier to score in.

 

Kanoute showed signs of becoming a very good player at West Ham, unfortunately West Ham and Spurs turned into very mediocre teams. Forlan's scoring record at Man Utd was lambasted, but the majority of his appearances were as a substitute. Fergie didnt trust him at all, because he was very raw. Now he has a manager who believes in him and he has developed over the past 3 years.

 

Both players are now the focal attacking point of their teams. Their teams are also a lot better than the teams they played for in the UK. I think this goes some way to explaining why their performances and goalscoring records have improved

[_00_deathscar]

Villareal are better than Man Utd?

[Raj]

Villareal are better than Man Utd?

 

Doh! (Just re-read that last bit and thats not what I meant to say)

 

I meant Sevilla are better than West Ham and Spurs. I explained why Forlan is playing better for Villareal.

Edited June 13, 2007 by roegahnn